There’s evidence for a subsurface lake on Mars, and scientists are excitedly using the “h” word. Could the Red Planet be habitable, not billions of years ago, but today? While we wait – impatiently – for a confirmation of this result, we review the recipe for habitable alien worlds. For example, the moon Titan has liquid lakes on its surface. Could they be filled with Titanites?

Dive into a possible briny, underground lake on Mars … protect yourself from the methane-drenched rain on a moon of Saturn … and cheer on the missed-it-by-that-much planets, asteroids Ceres and Vesta.

Also, do tens of billions of potentially habitable extrasolar planets mean that Earth is not unique?

Guests:

Nathalie Cabrol – Planetary scientist, Director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute

Use this easy-to-follow guide to enjoy what’s up in the February sky: Venus and Jupiter dancing in the dawn, Mars riding high among winter’s evening stars, and a total lunar eclipse. Host: Kelly Beatty. (5MB MP3 download: running time: 5m21s)

Download this podcast to guide you to the wonders of December’s evening sky : like Orion leaping up over the eastern horizon with gleaming Mars by his side. Host: Kelly Beatty. (7MB MP3 download: running time: 7m20s)

Download this podcast to your MP3 player, and you’ll be able to navigate the March evening sky like a seasoned stargazer. Find Mars, Saturn, Orion, the Twins of Gemini, and more. (6MB MP3 download: running time: 6m10s)